We all know that transportation costs are on the rise. Logistics and supply chain consulting firm PLG Consulting predicted trucking costs would rise 8-10% this year. The third annual Element Fleet Management Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Index (released this past April) reported an 88.0 score: a “marked increase” from the 2015 and 2016 scores of 83.8 and 83.0.

During Roadcheck 2017, Hours of Service violations (HOS) topped the list of driver violations, as a whopping 32.3% of drivers were found to be over their allotted hours. And though the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance hasn’t released the results from this year’s annual enforcement event (held June 5-7), the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reports that the numbers of HOS violations have dropped dramatically this year due to the recent ELD mandate.

Blowouts are scary. Even scarier are their all-too-often consequences. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that tires were a contributing factor in accidents that injured 19,000 people in 2015. Even worse, 733 people died in 2016 in crashes in which tire malfunction contributed to the accident.

The future is here. Autonomous trucks are on the road. Soon, there will be squads of driverless semis zooming down the highways, imperiling auto drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians, and stealing jobs from thousands of truckers.